Protests by Congress workers in Nagpur force Madhur Bhandarkar to call off his press conference

The press conference of Madhur Bhandarkar’s upcoming movie Indu Sarkar got cancelled in Nagpur today morning, after local Congress leaders staged protests against the movie. The film Indu Sarkar is set against the backdrop of 1975-1977 Emergency, which has characters inspired by the late Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi. Congress leaders, before the release of the film, demanded a screening of the movie to ensure the movie doesn’t portray Indira Gandhi in a bad light.

When Nation Next asked senior Congress leader Vikas Thakre, who was also a prominent part of the protest, he said, “Similar protests are happening across cities. The film should be screened to our senior leaders. We don’t have any problem if the movie isn’t about Indiraji. But, if it is, they should delete the scenes that revolve around her. Instead of deploying the city’s police force and us for this, Madhur Bhandarkarji should simply screen the movie for our senior Congress leaders and end the matter.”

When asked about speculations of the BJP supporting the movie discreetly, he said, “Only Bhandarkar can tell us about this. How come he’s so free to make a movie like this? I wonder who’s behind this act of tarnishing the reputation of such a great leader, who sacrificed her life for the country. There might be some conspiracy. Bhandarkar was recently conferred upon with Padma Shri so chances are that this movie might be a compensation of the same!”

Congress leader Abhijit Wanzari, who was also seen during the protest, said, “If there’s anything objectionable in the movie that is related to Indiraji, we’ll ensure the movie doesn’t get released in India. Otherwise, no one can stop the movie from its release.”

Congress leader from Mumbai Sanjay Nirupam, who’s currently serving as the President of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee, too had expressed his displeasure over the movie.

A day before, the four times National Award winner’s press conference in Pune too had got cancelled due to the same reason. The film is slated to release on July 28 and has Neil Nitin Mukesh, Kirti Kulhari in lead roles.

Check what Madhur Bhandarkar, during the ongoing protests in Nagpur, tweeted. Also, watch the below video of the protest in Nagpur.